49ers Donte Whitner: 'I wanted to send those fans home crying'

SANTA CLARA — The rivalry between the Seattle Seahawks and 49ers doesn't need anything to get the juices flowing. Yet, the way the 49ers lost to the Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game is certain to stoke the fire for years to come.

"Most definitely, we'll have a vendetta out for them," 49ers Pro Bowl outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks said Monday, less than 24 hours after the Seahawks ended the 49ers season with a 23-17, come-from-behind victory in Seattle.

Brooks said he and his teammates will prepare for the Seahawks the same way they do for every other team next season.

However, he added, the 49ers now are forced to view the Seahawks in a different light after the Seahawks dethroned them as the NFC's top dog.

"That's one of the teams in the league, man, that can be compared to us," Brooks said. "They have the right to sit there and say, 'Well, you know, we beat the San Francisco 49ers by (26) points (in September). We beat them in the NFC Championship.' Losing that game yesterday was tough, man."

Strong safety Donte Whitner said he and his teammates are disappointed for more than the fact that they missed out on playing in the Super Bowl for the second straight year.

"It makes it a little worse, because I wanted to send those fans home crying," Whitner said of a vocal Seahawks fan base. "We all wanted to send those fans home crying. And we had an opportunity to do that on the last drive."

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As it turned out, the Seahawks snuffed out a 49ers drive that penetrated Seattle territory in the final minute Sunday.

Unflattering comments made by Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman after the game about 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree no doubt will heighten a rivalry that kicked into high gear three years ago, when Jim Harbaugh arrived as 49ers coach.

Tight end Vernon Davis isn't sure what all the fuss is about when it comes to so much written and spoken about the Seahawks and 49ers developing into one of the league's best rivalries.

"They're a good team, we're a good team," Davis said. "Anytime you have two good teams that are playing in the same conference, everyone tries to make something out of it.

"I don't really see it as a rivalry. I just see it as two good teams going after it, getting after it, and putting up a good fight."